South Snohomish County Crime Watch Hot Sheet: ROBOCALLS

Robocalls have become a basic method for scammers to contact potential victims. Modern computer technology allows scammers to dial thousands of phone numbers a day. When someone answers, then a recorded message can play to try to get the person answering their phone to engage.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) offers the Do Not Call Registry to the public. By registering your phone number on the registry, you are telling telemarketers that you do not want unsolicited phone solicitations from them. Telemarketing companies are required to check the registry and refrain from calling phone numbers listed in it.

Telemarketing calls, including robocalls, have not stopped. Some calls are allowed such as political, charitable, debt collection, informational calls, and surveys. But most scammers ignore the registry.

If you receive an unwanted robocall you can complain to the FTC at https://www.donotcall.gov/. The FTC takes complaints seriously. As part of its enforcement efforts, it compiles complaints that it receives into a database for its own use and makes the database available to federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. It also produces a yearly report that summarizes the complaints by violation type and by state.

That report, the Do Not Call Registry Data Book for 2022, shows a slight decline in complaints over the four-year period between 2018 to 2021:

Year	Total Complaints
2018	5,779,975
2019	5,422,690
2020	3,966,720
2021	5,009,459

In Washington state, total number of complaints from Washington State residents also has shown a decline since 2018:

Complaints for Washington State:

Year	Total Complaints
2018	130,920
2019	126,868
2020	91,184
2021	119,099

The report breaks down complaints by type of complaint. Nationwide the top scams reported were ranked as follows:

Imposters
Warranties and protection plans
Medical and prescription issues
Debt-reduction
Energy, solar power, utilities

6. Lotteries, prizes, & sweepstakes

7. Home improvement & cleaning

Washingtonians reported the following scams from phone calls:

1. Imposters

2. Warranties & protection plans

3. Reducing debt

4. Medical & prescriptions

5. Computer & technical support

6. Vacation & timeshares

7. Lotteries, prizes & sweepstakes

Imposter scams top both the national and Washington state complaint list. Scammers will impersonate just about anyone, IRS agents, Social Security employees, local police officers, major computer company tech support employees, bank employees, your grandkids, a potential romantic partner.

Any of the scams reported to the FTC adhere to the 5 “Ps” of scammers-

· Pretend- scammers pretend to be someone they are not. This can be someone who claims to be in authority and recognizable to you.

· Problem- the scammer will claim that you have a problem that you need to solve, and they have the solution to solving it. Or

· Prize- the scammer tells you that you have prize owed to you or available to you that has come out of nowhere.

· Pressure- Scammers put pressure on you to act right away or else there will be dire consequences if you don’t right now.

· You Pay- Scammers will pressure you to pay, “it’s easier, faster,” or it’s the only way, and they will want payment with methods that make it impossible for you to recover your money such as gift cards, wire transfers, or cryptocurrency.

If you receive a robocall or scam phone call,

· Hang up. Don’t engage with a scammer.

· Add your phone numbers to the National Do Not Call Registry.

· Look into call blocking options through you telephone carrier or through smartphone apps.

· Report illegal robocalls to the FTC at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/ or 877-382-4357.